A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF SMOKING IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE1

Abstract

Nefzger, M. D. (Nat. Research Council, Washington, D. C. 20418), F. A. Quad-fasel and V. C Karl. A retrospective study of smoking in Parkinson's disease. Amer. J. Epid., 1968, 88: 149–158.—Reports that tobacco smokers are at a lower risk of incurring Parkinson's disease (PD) than are nonsmokers were reinvestigated by study of 198 VA hospital patients with PD and 198 other patients. A retrospective design was advantageous in this instance because case finding did not depend on the occurrence of death or the uncertain reporting of PD on death certificates. Smoking habits, particularly as they existed before the onset of PD, were assessed by personal interview. In contrast to control patients, fewer PD patients ever smoked cigarettes, cigars, or pipes and fewer chewed tobacco or used snuff. Before age 40 there were fewer regular daily cigarette smokers among PD patients than among controls. PD patients tended to start smoking cigarettes at an older age and to stop at a younger age than did controls. Diseases that are positively associated with smoking were infrequently reported in PD patients, suggesting that selective mortality from other diseases may explain the negative association between smoking and PD.